


The Necessity of Breathable Fabric

by Nebulad



Series: Bold & Golden [4]
Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Dress Up, F/M, Fluff, Other, pre-plague
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-10
Updated: 2017-12-10
Packaged: 2019-02-12 20:50:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12968166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nebulad/pseuds/Nebulad
Summary: “That’s just the fabric breathing,” he said dismissively. “You’ll like it come peak heatwave.”“How do all of you just… talk to each other like this?” She’d never noticed how distracting it was while she was properly dressed, but god. Lucio had more layers on than an old woman in a blizzard and she could still see his chest and well down his stomach.And what could she say now that her collar ended at her waist? Lucio beamed, kissing behind her ear. “A waist. A ribcage. How distracting. If you show me your ankles I may faint.”





	The Necessity of Breathable Fabric

“It’s not really… what I’m used to,” Ana said with a frown. Lucio was very busy kissing her nonsensically bared shoulders, though, so he didn’t say a damn word. “I mean, I’m sure it looks nice—”

“So am I,” he muttered, which really sent to hell her sympathetic opinion that he hadn’t heard her. He kissed up the side of her neck, his arms pulling around her hips.

“Nadia has good taste, of course, but what I’m saying is that I look like someone put a very pretty dress on a horse.” It wasn’t necessarily a comment on her physical appearance— she didn’t consider herself literally horse-like, but only in the sense that she was about as suited to the fluttery fabric so favoured by the Countess as a horse _would_ be. Then again, Lucio had some exceptionally pretty horses.

“Don’t be boring,” he scolded, spinning her around and pulling her into a lazy dance. “Noddy was absolutely right to pester you into a summer wardrobe. Aren’t you less warm now?”

Her lip curled. “I feel exposed.” She very gently untangled herself from their dance, almost singlemindedly longing for her high-collared blouse.

“That’s just the fabric breathing,” he said dismissively. “You’ll like it come peak heatwave.”

“How do all of you just… talk to each other like this?” She’d never noticed how distracting it was while _she_ was properly dressed, but _god._ Lucio had more layers on than an old woman in a blizzard and she could _still_ see his chest and _well_ down his stomach.

And what could she say now that her collar ended at her waist? Lucio beamed, kissing behind her ear. “A waist. A ribcage. How distracting. If you show me your ankles I may faint.”

“Now you’re making fun of me.” She leaned back against his chest, sighing. She hadn’t been surprised that the second she’d shuffled out of his closet to show him the dress Nadia had commissioned for her, he’d immediately pulled them both over to the mirror. Strangely it _did_ make her feel a little less uncomfortable to have him gush over all of it.

Lucio huffed, turning her head to pressing their foreheads together. “If a cloak would make you feel better...” he murmured. She snorted, not because it wasn’t a welcome suggestion— surprisingly astute for a man as fond of waists and ribcages and ankles as the Count was— but because she was tempted to…

Ah, to hell with it.

She turned around and unlatched the clap on the cloak he was wearing, staggering in surprise. It was _much_ heavier than she’d expected; still, she managed to throw it around her shoulder and strike his favourite pose, throwing herself wildly off-balance to lift her leg as if she were standing on a skull. He cackled, catching her before she toppled entirely over. “How do you _lift_ this thing?” she asked, thoughtlessly letting him catch her whole weight.

“Wildly impressive physical strength. Naturally.” He pulled her closer by the cape as she got used to the heavy material, quickly pecking her cheek. “Show me what else my darling wife bought for you.”

Ana sighed, pressing the flat of her palm to the bundle of jewels placed just above her belly button. “She _really_ overestimates the grace of my shoulders.” Not everyone could have the sweeping vertical lines of the Countess; some people just had to have an ankle length wool skirt to feel normal.

“I’ll be the judge of that, thank-you.” He quickly shuffled her along, swinging the cloak away from her and falling back on his bed. “Rush along now, darling.” She rolled her eyes, turning quickly to climb overtop of him. _“Oh,_ scratch that. I like this better.”

If it spared her the fashion show, he could have what he liked.

**Author's Note:**

> [Writing blog here,](http://nebulaad.tumblr.com) [game here](https://nebulous.itch.io/manor-hill) (newly updated!), and finally [commissions post here](http://nebulaad.tumblr.com/post/162182264019/writing-commissions).
> 
> You'd think covering as much skin as possible in a desert climate would be the idea to avoid sunburn/nighttime coldness and yet I don't think Vesuvia has seen one whole shirt in three years. Ana moves in with her turtlenecks and everyone is aghast. "Ah, I see," Nadia says, wise and thoughtful. She creates that one dress she wears that's a turtleneck and a sheer back. "Like this."
> 
> "Not really," Ana answers, but no one listens to her because she can tolerate more than twenty seconds of Lucio's company and so she's obviously a witch. Anyway, I've been feeling like writing and this was short enough that I didn't wanna collapse so... here it is, I guess?
> 
> And for those just joining us, the link up there to my game is a link to part of a dating sim I'm working on. You can play it in your browser and don't have to download anything, but if you click through and tell me what you think that'd be cool.


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